The return of our freedoms – but is it enough?

Plus: What Labour still gets wrong, saying no to Sturgeon and London's great lost concert hall [View in browser]( Monday May 10 2021 [The Telegraph]( By Chris Evans, EDITOR Dear Reader, The Prime Minister will confirm later today that the next stage of the roadmap out of lockdown will proceed as planned. You can follow the latest lockdown news [on our live blog]( including Britain's Covid alert level dropping from four to three. As ever, there is significant debate as to whether the UK is moving at the correct speed. Sarah Knapton sets out the experts' arguments for both going faster and taking it slow, so that [you can make your own mind up](. A few bright spots aside, Labour suffered a grim set of election results last week, which was compounded by an apparently botched shadow cabinet reshuffle at the weekend (the fallout from which you can keep up with on [our politics live blog](. MPs from every faction of the party are arguing as to why Labour hasn’t improved under Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership. At the root of all of the party’s problems, [argues Suzanne Moore]( is that it hasn’t got over the politics of Jeremy Corbyn - even with a new leader. For the SNP, the elections meant victory, but not quite the triumph Nicola Sturgeon had hoped for. There is a pro-independence majority at Holyrood, but not an SNP one, which has complicated her drive for a new referendum. The Prime Minister has insisted now is not the moment to hold one and that, says Alan Cochrane, gives the Government more than enough time to learn from its mistakes and [turn back the nationalist tide](. The debate over whether London needs a truly great concert hall periodically returns, rarely coming to any conclusion. Yet it may come as a surprise to know that until the Blitz, the capital did indeed have a world-class venue for classical music. Simon Heffer [tells the fascinating story]( of why, while the House of Commons and St Clement Danes were rebuilt after the war, the Queen’s Hall was, sadly, not. Finally, even before Covid-19 struck, one’s mid-50s were seen as an age for relocation. The standard narrative is of decamping to the seaside or perhaps the country, and often downsizing, but not everyone follows that path. [In a lovely piece]( Sam Baker writes of how she and her husband decided instead to move to the middle of a bigger city at the opposite end of the country, and explains why it’s more common than you might think. Chris PS This week is your final opportunity to enter Fantasy Fund Manager, our subscriber-exclusive stock-picking challenge, if you want to qualify for a chance of winning the £5,000 grand prize. You can also win a £1,000 weekly prize. [Subscribe now to start picking your funds today]( and pay just £1 a month for the first three months. My Choices [Street art of people kissing in masks]( Do we really need to wait until June 21 to lift all Covid restrictions? [Here's what the scientists think.]( [Jeremy Corbyn]( 'Labour is suffering from Long Corbyn, and there's no known cure.' [Read Suzanne Moore's insightful article.]( [Nicola Sturgeon]( 'Keep calm and quash Nicola Sturgeon's dreams of Scottish independence': [Alan Cochrane argues that the Government has finally learnt a valuable lesson]( with the SNP. (Free to read) [The Queen's Hall]( Britain’s best concert hall was destroyed by the Nazis 80 years ago today – [Simon Heffer tells its story and asks why hasn't it been rebuilt?]( (Free to read) [Sam and her husband Jon in Edinburgh]( The perils of relocating in midlife and why upsizing is the new downsizing. [Meet the relocaters starting afresh in a new town in their 50s.]( [Jimmy White]( Snooker's Jimmy White: ‘We had everything that was bad for you on tap. I loved it’. [One of the game’s ultimate survivors talks about the sport’s era of excess.]( What did you think? Let us know how we're doing using the feedback button below or tweet me [@chrisevans1](. Although I am unable to respond individually to all the emails I receive, I am grateful to you for sending them to me. [Send feedback](mailto:Totheeditor@telegraph.co.uk) We hope you enjoyed our newsletter. If you have questions or feedback, please visit our [help page](. If you have questions about your Telegraph subscription, including delivery issues or technical ones, [please visit this page]( and contact us that way. If you would like a letter to the Editor published in The Telegraph, email it to [dtletters@telegraph.co.uk.](mailto:dtletters@telegraph.co.uk) Please include name, address, work and home telephone numbers. 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